Mini Family Photo Shoot

When the Bjorkmans were out here, we did another little photo shoot. It was a really tough day to shoot because it was overcast so everything was looking very gray, but it was bright enough to make squinting an issue. You can see it in a couple of the pictures. A few adjustments to white balance in the camera took away some of the grayness and some overexposure helped with some of the shadows on the face they they had their backs to the sun. It's not the best of shoots, but a couple turned out alright.

I really like the one of Abby running. I think it captures her personality and who she is. Also, I couldn't help but include a bunch of Jocy. She's looking over her shoulder in the shots because she's watching her sisters play. She kept making funny faces and getting excited while watching them. And of course the "foo-dogs" picture is classic.

Adge, if you click on the pictures you can open and download them.

Photo Project: Daily Grind

At the end of my 3 week photography class we had to turn in a photo project and present it to the class. The assignment was to take 5 pictures that were related in some way. It could be all people, or all water, or all black and white......whatever you wanted. So I chose to take 5 pictures of my daily routine. Kind of walk you through my day. I like to call it The Daily Grind. I procrastinated all but one of the pictures until less than 24 hours before I had to present (surprise, surprise) so I had to rush through them, but here's what I ended up with.

#1. Waking up. Lesley hates the short shorts, but whatcha gonna do? This was shot with ISO 1600 to increase the light. The noise (graininess) in the photo was done on purpose to give that 'not quite woken up' feel to the shot. One of my classmates said it looked like the person in the picture was really stressed out or depressed. I didn't tell him it was me in the shot.
#2. Biggest Loser workout. ISO 100, F/14, 1/2 second exposure. This took like 30 different tries from about 5 different angles to get the motion how I wanted it.

#3. Work. This is my office building in Provo. I work on the third floor and I wanted to capture my view in the reflection of the windows. Somehow I lucked out and get to look at Mt. Timpanogas all day. ISO 100, F/3.4, 1/400 s.

#4. The commute home. This is at the point of the mountain, just about home, taken around 7:30 pm. ISO 100, F/16, 15 second exposure, .3 stops underexposed

#5. Bedtime. Lesley posed for this photo. 2 steps underexposed to keep everything but the light and hand very dark and also to create the warm colors. ISO 1600, F/5.6, 1/80 s.

I'm now taking suggestions for my next post. I like to have assignments from people because it makes me go out and shoot.

Still waiting for a post from Eliot or Jason................

Rio Grande Train Station Dump

We had our second trip and we went to this retired train station in downtown Salt Lake. I didn't find the place very interesting for shooting, but came away with a few decent shots. This week in class we had been focusing on achieving the shot you want in camera, without using photoshop, by manipulating the exposure, contrast, saturation, white balance, and the like. So all the pictures you see were not photoshopped except for the very last one where I added some saturation after the fact. If you click on the slideshow it will take you to the picassa album where the captions have the details of the shot (shutter speed, aperture, etc.) For example, some of the shots of the stairs were 20 second exposures. Again, feedback is welcome. And I'm waiting to see the results from Jason's field trip.

Field Trip

So I'm in a photography class now at hated University of Utah's continuing education program. I think the program is for all their football players that never graduate. We had a field trip this weekend where we went to a park in SLC to take pictures. The park was really ugly so there wasn't a whole lot to work with. It was more to practice our technical skills anyway. The teacher walked around with us and gave some technical and composition help, but mostly we just wandered around and practices. Here is a slideshow of what I took. The one night picture is of the Utah state capitol and was taken earlier this week. These shots aren't all that great, but they're what was left after I weeded out all the "practice" shots. It's amazing at how many pictures I thought were worth taking at the time but once I went through them I wondered what I was thinking. I always appreciate feedback.

Macro Shots

With Lesley out of town I tend to get pretty bored. And since today was a banking holiday and I couldn't get much done anyway, I blew off work a little early and headed home to take some pictures. I figured I'd practice my macro stuff a little bit. Jason's tip about using the timer with the tripod to make sure the photo was absolutely still when shooting with a small aperture was quite helpful. Here are a few of the macro ones that turned out decent. I also did some editing for the first time. The Skittles had a ton of white spots on them from the package so I got rid of most of them. I really need more vision when it comes to picking shots.

Weekend Trip to Tahoe

I always told myself I was going to save my first blogging experience for marriage, but then Trevor made the first move and I couldn't resist.

Over an extended MLK weekend Megan and I went to Tahoe for my first ever ski/snowboard trip. On our first full day we decide to rent snowboards and head up the mountain. The first run down the bunny slope isn't as easy as I had envisioned in my mind as I can't get my board to turn right. With a new found "technique" I make up as I wait in line for the next ride to the top, I'm ready to conquer going to my right. Closing in on the summit, I put my board down and prepare for launch. As I start to gracefully glide away, suddenly Megan pushes me in the back and I fly face first into the ground with my elbow planted firmly in my ribs. I groan and roll away so that the 3 and 4 year olds don't ski over me. The lift attendant asks if I need assistance as I writhe in pain. Megan scoots over and claims she thought she was "pushing off the lift." I force myself down the bunny slope for the second run of the day with what feels like a cracked rib/torn cartilage/bruised liver or pancreas (I can't remember what side they're on)/punctured lung/broken heart/bruised ego.

On our second full day Megan gets up early and goes skiing. After I manage to roll out of bed onto my knees, I pull myself up using the dresser and make it downstairs. With some light stretching and breathing exercises I can only equate to Lamaze, I strap on the snow shoes and head out to take some pictures. Please note that this was only my fourth time taking the camera out into the world...

Bjorkman Family Photo Shoot

Adrienne challenged me several months ago to take some family photos for them. I initially denied her challenge and then later accepted. I figured that would be better for family relations. So over break we headed out to the woods by their house to give it a go. Lesley was my creative eye and equipment manager. She also doubled as the twins' entertainment and Adrienne's baby assistant. We had no clue what we were doing but Lesley and I learned a lot in this endeavor and really enjoyed ourselves. We look forward to Sunriver next summer.